NFL Week 1

Probably should have got round to this sooner, but my beloved Raiders are not playing until the early hours of Tuesday morning, so apart from Fantasy Football, not really took that much interest. The pre - season generally is not an indication of things to come as it is generally about avoiding injuries and either keeping or cutting the rookies / fringe players. Oakland however did make all the major English newspapers + Sky Sports News, for a rare high profile trade.

Basically, Raider defender Khalil Mack was offered a $20 million a year deal, but decided to " hold out " Chicago, came in and offered him nearer $24 million. No transfers as such of course, so the Bears needed to make a player package and / or future draft pick deal as the " fee. " Whilst there were pick swapped in the later rounds, the main part of the deal was Chicago giving up their Round 1 picks from the next 2 years college drafts.

Obviously would have loved to have kept the guy, but with a Quarterback already on top money, it would have been difficult to pay another massive wage in a salary cap sport. Pressure will of course be on in the next 2 drafts, but these first round picks ( plus their own first rounders ) could be a tremendous building block for the future.

Overall the coaching staff has had a major overhaul and there are plenty of new players taking to the field. Always tough to know what to expect and this match may prove their toughest assignment of the season, but do feel the many doubters will be proved wrong.

14 games are already " in the book " and week 1, did provide some interesting action. Last year's Superbowl finalists ( Eagles and Patriots ) both won as did probable contenders the Jacksonville Jaguars and the Minnesota Vikings. New Orleans lost in a bit of a shocker to Tampa Bay and after going last year winless, the Cleveland Browns opened with a tie against Pittsburgh. The Patriots remain FAV's in most books, with the Vikings, Eagles, Steelers and LA Rams, not far behind.

The afore mentioned Rams are Oakland's first opponent and they will provide a stiff test and are a general 6 point favourite on the handicap. Can't see any glaring errors in the odds, so just going with a few First TD scorers for added interest. Also gone in again on the Raiders winning the Superbowl at 66's, as this does look big and with a week 1 win, will be considerably shorter.

For some reason forgot to update this. In the end it finished Oakland 13 v 33 LA Rams. Shockingly ( given the final score ) it was 13 - 10 Oakland at the Half. Proper Raider football for 30 minutes, but too many mistakes in the 2nd stanza. The Rams were fancied to go deep into the play off's and based on this performance, they will not be far away. Too many raider fans in a panic at the moment, but definitely showed enough to be competitive against anybody.

First TD Bets no good, but Cooper Kupp scored the 3rd TD of the evening and Jared Cook was responsible for 180 of Oakland's 303 receiving yards.

Nervy overtime period, but Oakland came out winners over Cleveland by a score of 45 to 42. The Browns have finally shown some form and could have gone into the game with 3 wins out of 3, so are a long way from the team that won just once in 2 years. They have also played 3 decent teams this year and had conceded 59 points in those 3 outings. For Oakland to score 45, has to be a fair effort.

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